Trade-in ANY camera for $300 towards a Sony A7/A7R

What happens when a manufacturer desperately wants rapid market share gain and mass adoption of its full-frame mirrorless cameras? You get a hard-to-refuse offer that instantly gives you cash for ANY camera in ANY condition. That’s right, Sony is giving away $300 if you trade-in your old camera. And when I say old, it could be a broken/non functional film camera that is not worth a penny, or a dead point and shoot that you have had in your drawer for years and never had a chance to dump it. With the already aggressively priced Sony A7 and A7R cameras, giving access to a full-frame A7 camera body at $1700, this $300 credit makes the A7 the cheapest full-frame camera we have seen to date, at under $1500 price tag. Clearly, Sony is not looking into making money from this rebate program and just wants rapid adoption of its brand new technology. When I originally shared my thoughts about the potential impact of the Sony full-frame mirrorless system on Nikon and Canon sales, a number of our readers criticized me for what I wrote and argued that there was no threat for the big two. Well, judging by what I hear so far in terms of sales and adoption, even among our readers, Sony is doing really well. And seeing how the Nikon D610 got a $100 off just after a month of its launch tells me that Nikon is definitely adjusting its pricing in response and Canon is pretty much doing the same with its 6D line. As Sony continues to expand its market share, I am sure we will be seeing price drops across the industry from all manufacturers. This is definitely good for us photographers, since healthy competition is always a good thing that drives innovation and decreases prices. With mirrorless having less components and bulk than a DSLR, it will be an interesting battle to watch for the next few years.

I have not had a chance to review the Sony full-frame mirrorless system yet (mostly due to lack of time and too much other gear to review), but my initial reaction to it was pretty average, with mixed feelings. While the image quality, the Sony/Zeiss lenses and the technology are phenomenal, I was not particularly happy with a limited lens selection, battery life, response time / lag, bad and scattered menu design, shutter vibration (A7R) and a few other minor annoyances. My overall impression was that the camera system needed another iteration, with hopefully improved changes to particularly the shutter on the A7R and the menu system to be really good for my taste. So if you are ready to work with these issues for the sake of having truly amazing image quality, the A7/A7R are of great value, especially with this trade-in program.

How does it work?

So how does this trade-in program work? Basically, you go to this Sony trade-in page and put the camera you want to trade-in under the “what would you like to sell” section, then pick the search result that comes up. The database of cameras is pretty extensive – even my old Nikon FG camera was there (and I got offered $50 towards it). On the next page you specify the condition fo the camera and if you happen to have all the cables and accessories that came with it, you will get more added to the “additional value” field. You then add it to the basket and use the regular procedure to check out. After you send your camera to B&H, they will assess your camera and if the quote estimate matches the camera condition, you will get a credit in a form of a B&H gift card to apply towards purchasing the A7 or A7R cameras.

And if you would rather just get some savings by buying one of these cameras and some Sony/Zeiss lenses, Sony has an additional rebate going on that can save up to $650 when bundled with lenses and a flash.

If you are planning to take advantage of this offer, we would love to hear from you. Please let us know what you are planning to trade in and which Sony camera you are planning to buy!

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About Nasim Mansurov

Nasim Mansurov is a professional photographer based out of Denver, Colorado. He is the author and founder of Photography Life, along with a number of other online resources. Read more about Nasim here.

David B

Loooove my Sony A7r. It is such a small compact camera with incredible 36MP sensor. I take it on vacation, I take it on hikes, and I don’t even feel it is there. Just the thought that in my jacket pocket I get a camera with picture quality of D800e makes me smile. 55FE Sony lens DXO declared as the best autofocus lens they HAVE EVER tested. That’s right. I’ve seen almost new A7r go for $1600 and A7 for less than $1100 on Fred Miranda for sale forums. And unlike Fuji, Sony has a great flash system with full lineup of flashes that are powerful, there is HSS/FP high speed sync. The AF is still not perfect, but that holds true for all mfrs except m43 crowd.

Gerry C

Hi David. I loved the small body size of the A7 that I tried too — but you must have some big jacket pockets if you can fit an A7r and the Sony 55mm lens! That Sony 55mm f/1.8 lens is roughly 20% larger and 500% more expensive than the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens. :-)

David B

Gerry, I was referring to A7r+35FE combination. That is very small. Another small combination is A7r+Vogilander 40/1.4 on a Leica adapter (even smaller than with 35FE).

55FE is a larger lens no question, but have you seen how large 55 Otus is?

And note the dpreview comparison, 55FE is actually better than 55 OTUS at some apertures, and very close everywhere else.

Yes and 55FE is at least 4 times better than Nikon 50 1.8G in my opinion, especially if you shoot it wide open. It is crazy sharp across the board, in fact it is ubersharp. Now of course my opinion is just my opinion. I also compared the side-by-side with Nikon D800 and any lens, and Canon 6d and any lens, and A7r is just noticeably smaller and lighter. And to think you have 36MP of filterless heaven in that small setup, it is unbelievable. I sold my D800 since and all my Nikon lenses. I did keep Canon 6D and couple Canon lenses because Canon lenses are better on A7r due to adaptor that controls everything including autofocus (although AF is very slow).

Gerry C

Ah, that makes more sense! The 35mm FE lens is definitely smaller than their 55mm. :-)

And yes, that Otus lens is huge!

http://steveeasley.com Steve E

Thanks Nasim, The Sony offer seems like a great deal. I have a lot of Nikon gear but I’m really loosing faith in the Nikon brand and don’t really want to take more chances with their cameras until Im convinced the company is back on track in terms of making good reliable cameras and good service. After living through all the Nikon nonsense lately I’m seriously thinking of jumping ship. I don’t want to do this prematurely. If Sony lenses etc aren’t up to par for example. I like the size of the A7. I have a fuji xe2 with a number of their lenses but wish it focused faster and more accurately. My question for you is your opinion . 1. What do you think of Sony A7’s focus speed/accuracy for wildlife sports and kids compared to Nikon. 2. What do you think of the Sony lenses for the A7 compared to Nikon. Will the adapters work well with the other Sony lenses?

David B

I owned all the Nikons to D800 and all the Canons to 5DM3. I can tell you that AF of Sony A7 and A7r should not be even mentioned in the same sentence with top DSLRS from both brands. So for sports and kids it is clearly inadequate. I have a 22 month old active toddler and A7r is a hit and miss with him. But then I owned XE2 and took both on recent vacation (XE2 and Sony A7r). I ended up selling XE2 and keeping A7r. The picture quality and the low light noise is on the whole different level with A7r. As far as AF, neither is great for kids or sports. However, for everything else, A7/r does amazingly. It should be also noted that every Sony FE lens that have been released so far is weather resistant (unlike Fuji where XT1 is now weather resistant but not a single lens is). In terms of accuracy, after using both XE2 and A7r side by side in all conditions, in my opinion A7r is more accurate to focus in any light, including very low light. As for speed, neither is ideal.

As far as adapter, if you own Canon and not Nikon, it is a not brainer because Metabones III adapter (and chinese alternatives for less than half price of Metabones III) you can mount any Canon EF lens and have full control of the lens, IS and AF, correct exposure, although AF is slow with Canon EF lenses. For even faster operation, attach SOny LAEA4 adapter and have phase AF with any of the great Sony Zeiss lenses like 85/1.4 or amazing Zeiss 135/1.8.

Tigran

Hello David Thanks for a review. Ive got a Sony NEX 7 and coupled it with a Canon EF 55mm f/1.4. No comments on the image quality, but the slow AF defeats the whole idea. Sometimes it goes to an endless cycle of to-and-fro-s, so I need to switch the AF off to stop it. Have you experienced any AF problem with a Sony camera/Canon lens couple so far?

David B

Yes, the AF is slow and there are issues sometimes as you describe, but, in addition to AF what you get is electronic aperture control, and control over Image Stabilization etc. Its better than nothing. I think it also is lens dependent. I’ve only tried it so far with 24-105L and 50/1.8 II. I’ll get 85 1.8 next week and I will see what kind of AF I’d get. I’ve heard people getting good results with 17-40L AF on A7

RapidResponse

I have a broken Canon point and shoot , a small working Canon Point and Shoot and a Canon G12. Can I trade this to Sony and get $900?

https://www.facebook.com/SandipanBiswasPhotography Sandipan

Yes. And add three broken P&S of mine and you get the A7R for free! :P

Gerry C

That would be awesome if it worked that way and you (and I could get another $900 for 3 more crusty old cameras sitting in a box somewhere in my garage!) According to B&H’s quoting system, at the very least you could get anywhere between $35.00 and $135 for your G12. I tried see if could give them my ancient Canon G1 for some credit but it wasn’t even listed — so $0 for that camera. :-(

https://photographylife.com Nasim Mansurov

Gerry, but you still get $300 :)

Why not just trade-in a garbage camera instead of giving a working camera? This will literally work with anything! They will probably even take a phone with a camera :)

Gerry C

Hi Nasim, I have an old 35mm point & shoot that I could trade for the $300, but I was checking to see if B&H would give me some additional credit for other old cameras that I have sitting in a drawer. :)

I was really hoping that they’d give some crazy credit — like the $300 for any camera — but that’s (as expected) not the case. If I could get $900 worth of credit for old unused gear like RapidResponse was hoping for, then — and only then — would I consider the A7 again.

BTW, I say “again” because earlier this year I borrowed an A7 from a local camera store for 2 weeks… While I definitely like the image quality and the small mirrorless body, many other points (which you’ve outlined above) couldn’t sway me to keep it. The main negatives for me were: lack of lenses, overall size (body + lens isn’t significantly smaller than my Nikon full-frame gear), and lens prices. (!!!) For example, $998 for a 55mm f/1.8 lens? As sharp as that lens is, I can’t see it being worth 5x more than a Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens! Same with the Sony 35mm f/2.8 lens. $798 for f/2.8??? No thanks.

So, the Sony A7 went back to the store, I sold most of my Nikon gear (I still have the D600 and a few lenses) and I kept the Fuji X system.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Sony and I especially LOVE what they’re doing to shake up the Nikon/Canon full frame world. But for me, I really wanted a smaller overall setup and I understand that it might be physically impossible to shrink the lenses down from their current sizes — given the full frame sensor dimensions.

http://www.pixels4.co.uk Richard

Nikon/Canon certainly are on the run. Since I’ve discovered Fuji X, my photography life (excuse the pun) has changed completely. With their imaginative range, superb customer service and most all small package, but excellent technology my days of the dSLR are waning. Gone is my D800 and today I get my 10-24mm Fuji lens to go with my X-T1 and X-E2. I love this new small world.

shawn

AF slow as molasses. “Burst” rate on par with winding a film camera. Very few native lenses. Light leaks.

Pass. At least for this iteration. If this really is the form-factor/sensor you want, wait for Version 2.0: many of these annoyances might go away.

Me, I have too much Nikon glass to switch.

http://robdphotos.com Rob

Sony must be really desperate to pull a stunt like this. I guess despite all the hype sales have not been great. The cost of recycling all those old cameras will eat up any profit they might make selling those cameras and the few available lenses. I guess they are hoping enough people will be sucked in, so they can make a profit on future bodies and lenses, if they ever release any before they try something else.

Peter

Well just received my quote for a Nikon d200 $120.00 not even close to $300.00. That is the same price I would get from B & H for the D200 anyway seames this nothing special about thus promo.

John

They are not giving you $300 for any camera. I doubt the will give you much of anything for an old broken p&s.

David

Are you sure you can buy a Sony A7R with this deal and not just a Sony A7?